They were eight days into a standoff. As soon as the Beast's army came into view, Maleficent cast a spell over a Moor. A spell that only allowed those with pure intention, those who wouldn't bring harm to the Moors or its inhabitant, to enter.
Sadly, the three pixies, Aurora's aunts, were evicted from the Moors. Breaking many hearts. Aurora's the most.
With the army outside, the Fairy Godmother Janet, and Wizard Merlin doing everything they could to break Maleficent's spell, things inside the Moors were tense. The only reason Maleficent herself wasn't completely out of her mind was the fact that her daughter and grandson were with her. For the day Beast had arrived was the day Aurora brought Pierre to the Moors for the first time.
They were having fun. It was peaceful. Even Borra came to see the little Prince, to try to make him smile. And it just had to fall apart.
She knew what was going on, of course. She was a magical being, she felt the change as soon as it happened. And it just so happened that all magical beings were gossips, despite their backgrounds. Especially the Neverland fairies. A little fairy named Tinkerbell had been the one to warn her, after all.
Beast wanted to throw the Dark Fae, more so her, and goblins onto the Isle, and end the Moors once and for all. Sending any of the magical creatures to Neverland, or one of the few kingdoms that was allowed magic. But Maleficent wouldn't stand for that. The Moors were her home, the Dark Fae were becoming her family. And the other creatures, while she was no longer the technical Queen, they still saw her as their protector. The one to go to when Aurora wasn't around.
It didn't help that Queen Leah had turned out to be alive all this time. She had run from Stefan, and he just let everyone believe she was dead. Queen Leah... well she didn't like Maleficent. Or Maleficent's connection with her daughter. She worked hard to squeeze her way back towards the top, even intercepting the letter to King Beast's wedding. Now, she was one of Beast's advisors. Not on his council, exactly, that role sat with Phillip, but she still had more power than any of them were comfortable with.
Queen Leah, being that close to the Beast, was very insistent on the fact that Maleficent was evil. Spreading nonsense about how Phillip broke the curse, about how Maleficent tried to kill Aurora and Phillip, even turning into a dragon, and how the Dark Fae tried to destroy Ulstead.
There was some truth to her claims, but even the bits of truth were so twisted they were hard to find.
King Beast ate it all up. He promoted it. The only ones who weren't sold were the magical beings for, as we already established, they were big gossips. They were also more sensitive to lies.
It was only a matter of time before Beast thought of something that would hurt Aurora. Hurt Pierre.
"Mother, what are you thinking about?"
Maleficent turned to face Aurora, her Beastie. She had grown up so much in the past years, and it was still a shock to think about how she was a married Queen, with a child of her own. Gently, Maleficent cupped part of Aurora's face, using her other hand to stroke Pierre's cheek, watching as the baby squirmed a little. Her world was here, and she would do anything to protect it. Even if it meant... "I'm going to make a deal with the Beast."
Aurora was the only one who was shocked, Borra and Diablo looking as if they expected it.
"Mother, you.. you can't. He'll send you away!" Aurora had grasped Maleficent's wrist, as if that would keep her there. Maleficent didn't say anything, instead pressing a soft kiss on Pierre's cheek, before meeting her daughter's eyes.
"Beastie, I have to do this. To protect the Moors, the Fae, and you and Pierre. There is no other option."
Tears were starting to escape Aurora's eyes, and Maleficent wiped them all away, kissing her daughter's head and whispering, "I love you."
"Mother! Please, don't go."
But Maleficent's choice was final, and without a second glance she made her way to the edge of the Moors, looking out at the Beast and his army.
"I'll go to your island!" Maleficent bellowed, watching as the Beast grinned and taking pleasure as it fell when she continued with "Under conditions!"
"We're not here to make a deal!" He growled. She didn't even flinch.
"Then you'll be camping out for quite a while longer. My magic isn't evil. That fairy godmother and wizard won't penetrate it."
While the fairy and wizard in question turned angry glares at Maleficent, neither could stop from flinching under Beast's glare. That was enough of a confirmation for him to consider her words.
"What are your demands?" He asked, after whispering with a few men besides him.
"Leave the Moors alone. Leave the Dark Fae alone. My spell won't leave, but you'll have me."
Beast scowled, his ever darkening glare giving a glimpse to the literal beast he once was. "We have no deal!"
She was scared of that, even if she wouldn't show it. A war would be bloody, whether it was now or years in the future. The Moors could hold out... But Aurora couldn't.
What happened next wasn't in her plan. She didn't plan for Diablo and Borra to come out after her. For them to offer themselves, along with hundreds of goblins. For Beast to agree. In her shock, she barely registered Borra bringing her forward, Diablo squeezing her shoulder, Fairy Godmother's magic enveloping her.
The last thing she heard was a cry of "I love you, Mother!" before she was pulled away from everything she had ever known.
The Isle was a death-trap waiting to happen. Villains, anti-heroes and common folk all running around. Gangs being made by the minutes. Fights breaking out. And that was only the people. The clouds above and rocky surface made it impossible to grow food, the only animals were crocodiles, hyenas and some other 'evil' animals, and the water had to be boiled before it could be drunk. And even then you wanted to be cautious.
For a week Maleficent hid in her castle mourning the loss of her home and family.
The castle had been a surprise really, on top of the only mountain on the Isle, a mountain so steep that most people wouldn't bother climbing it. It was situated on the left side of the island, by the cove the pirates had claimed and the barges the came in with food. It also housed a cave towards the bottom right, a cave that led to Hades domain.
Thankfully, a mountain most wouldn't climb meant Maleficent and Borra could fly without fear. And the castle, while run down, seemed to be one that was just abandoned at some point and Beast wanted out of Auradon. It probably looked too dark, but Maleficent could deal with that.
Sadly, another blow to her mood was how Diablo was once again a raven instead of a man, and she was unable to turn him back. It felt like the wizard and fairy had cast a spell together, and with the Isle's effects, Maleficent couldn't break it.
Even though she could still understand him some, it hurt.
Despite that fact, Diablo was the one who finally got her out of the castle and pushed her to take charge. She took the persona that Beast pushed on people, the evil and terrifying evil fairy (honestly though, how hard was it to say Dark Fae?), this time another dark fairy with her.
In the villain's world, Maleficent was on top. But this didn't mean that there still weren't gangs. In the first few weeks, alliances were formed, and lands were claimed.
On the right side of the Isle, Claude Frollo ruled. With him were John Ratcliffe and Gaston by his side. The only buildings over there were run down huts, a broken clock tower, and what looked like half-burnt buildings. Auradon leftovers more likely. Honestly, Maleficent didn't have any want to go over to that side thanks to the amount of times Frollo screamed "Witch!" at her, and the way his eyes ran over her body making her want to burn her skin off. The only thing that worried her were the women who stayed over there, like the Babette's. Like many of the people on the island, they didn't deserve this life. They weren't villains. They had just made a bad decision, were misguided, or were seen in the wrong light.
The central part of the island was being established as a neutral zone. The main part of town was settled there, along with large estates such as the Evil Queen's castle, and Cruella de Vil's manor. Maleficent didn't care much for the Evil Queen, Grimhilde. The woman was insufferable, trying to go head to head with Maleficent. If they weren't on this piece of rock, then it might have been amusing. Instead it was just annoying.
Now Cruella de Vil was an interesting character. She was one of the few Maleficent could see herself reaching out to if the need came. As it was, they were still on different parts of the isle.
Which comes to the last part, the left side. We've already established what's there, it's the alliances that were much more simple than others. The pirates all banded under Captain Hook as soon as it became clear that Captain Jack Sparrow (and honestly, his story had spread like wildfire. Another who had no reason to be here) would rather stay on his ship in solitude. Above Hook was Ursula, being as she was the daughter of Poseidon, and above her were Hades and Maleficent. The only reason they were on the same standing was the fact that Hades had no interest in ruling the Isle, preferring to stay in the Underworld.
As the months passed, Maleficent began to experiment with what she could and couldn't do. Almost immediately she noticed how some magic was working. Fish could get through the barrier, more or likely thanks to Poseidon, and of course Hades was still doing his job. Ursula and Morgana could both shift into human forms. Some of the animals were able to be understood, and she could still feel her magic.
Her first act (after the attempt to turn Diablo back into a man) was seeing if she could use a water filtration spell. It was tedious work to have to boil the water before using it, and eventually children would be on the island, and everyone knows that children don't always think before they act.
To her pleasant surprise, the spell worked. By the time the islanders woke up, fresh water wells were all over the island. Yes, even on the right side. Maleficent wasn't going to punish the innocent people on that side just because Claude Frollo was a monster.
As it was, Fairy Godmother, Merlin and Zeus really had only made it so evil magic, or magic done with bad intentions, was blocked. So while those like Morgana and Grimhilde weren't able to do what they once were, Maleficent was still able to do magic. Not that she advertised it.
Instead, she played along and let the people believe that perhaps Auradon took just a little bit of pity on them.
Of course, Auradon just had to ruin that little bit of happiness by sending them garbage, food so rotten that it was a struggle to find anything edible. She tried to experiment more, seeing if perhaps she could charm a place where food might grow, but it seemed that anything bigger than a water filtration spell (which was actually pretty simple) wasn't going to work. So if you weren't a Greek God, you could only do small, good magic.
Thank Poseidon for sending more fish, because without it, the death toll would have been higher than it already was…
The deaths started that first winter. Malnourishment was one, but the bigger one was stillborns. Not even the animals would touch them. Instead, a graveyard was made near Hades cave. Maleficent could see him out there, standing among the graves and cursing Zeus and Beast. Sometimes, others would go out there, doing much of the same as Hades. For despite the island supposedly being full of villains, few ever harmed a baby.
